Younis Khan left out of Champions Trophy squad

The limited-overs career of Younis Khan, the senior Pakistan batsman, hangs in the balance after he was left out of a 30-man squad for the Champions Trophy to be held in June. The Pakistan board announced the pool of players unexpectedly early, and there had been speculation over Younis' future after a poor one-day series in South Africa earlier this month.

Younis, 35, was among several Pakistan batsmen who floundered in the series which South Africa won 3-2. Younis collected 116 ODIs runs at 23.20 as Pakistan's fragile batting struggled through much of the tour. He has had a difficult ODI run in recent years - his last century came as long back in 2008, and in three of the previous four years he has averaged less than 25.

The other major exclusion from the squad was of 20-year-old left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, who is looking to make his comeback after suffering a spine injury last December. Hasan had made an impact during the World Twenty20 last year, playing in four matches in that campaign.

The experienced allrounder Abdul Razzaq, who hasn't played an ODI since November 2011 continued to be ignored by the national selectors.

The Champions Trophy features the top eight ODI sides in the world, and is scheduled to be held in England in June. Pakistan are in Group B along with India, South Africa and West Indies. All teams have to announce their preliminary squad for the tournament before April 6.

Squad: Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Ahmed Shehzad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umer Amin, Sohail Tanvir, Hammad Azam, Azhar Ali, Shahid Afridi, Asad Ali, Anwar Ali, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil, Imran Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Zulfiqar Babar, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan